Giants Fire Cowboys Ex Colombo, But No Coaching Staff Fist-Fight?
FRISCO - Marc Colombo is a person I've known for a long time, a person of quality ... and a bad man, in the best possible sense. So the news that New York Giants first-year head coach Joe Judge has fired offensive line coach Colombo, paired with the rumor that the dismissal is the result of a fist-fight between the pair, draws me to one immediate conclusion:
Joe Judge has a death wish.
The Giants are moving away from Colombo, who of course had a fine career as a Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman before moving into coaching a couple of years ago in Dallas, and then shifting to the Giants when Judge hired Jason Garrett as his coordinator. New York is reportedly hiring Dave DeGuglielmo to replace him on the coaching staff.
Both Colombo and DeGuglielmo interviewed for the offensive line coaching job when Judge was looking for help. What he got in Colombo was guy as smart as he is tough ...
And a guy who, as a 6-8, 315-pound player and even now in slimmed-down form, obviously, stands up for what he believes.
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Colombo is also a guy who wins his fights. I can argue that he's helped the Giants become respectable (their three-win total is a surprise to me) though the New York O-line remains young and problematic. ... and it appears as though Colombo argued with a decision from Judge that Colombo make changes - maybe even agree to take a backseat to a possible new hiring of DeGuglielmo.
There really wasn't a fist-fight ... But if there was, I have a guess at who would've ended it.
During his playing days, Colombo was challenged to a post-practice fight by teammate Jay Ratliff. Ratliff was himself a big man, and a bad man ... and as the story goes, Ratliff's plan was to hide around a corner and sucker-punch his foe.
Somebody alerted Colombo to that devious plan. So he marched down an alternate hallway, so Ratliff could see him coming. The two squared up ... and Colombo had to be pulled off the 6-4, 287-pound Ratliff before too much damage was done.
I've got a call into Colombo to confirm that if the Judge-related "violence'' story is untrue; my understanding is that tempers flared, not fists. But for now and for me? I'll take Marc Colombo's side - and if I'm ever in an alley fight, I'll take him on my side, too.
